


No One Has To Know

by Woodland_Nerd (orphan_account)



Category: Big Hero 6 (2014)
Genre: AU, Gen, Implied abuse, collection of random adventures, implied rape, movie never happened
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-27
Updated: 2014-12-27
Packaged: 2018-03-03 19:37:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2882591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Woodland_Nerd
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tadashi has kept a horrible secret since he and Hiro's parents died. Aunt Cass has helped him keep it, from Hiro, from Tadashi's friends, from everyone. No one has to know about what happened, where the scars came from, or why Tadashi cries in his sleep and still puts on a smile in the morning. No one has to know.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. It's Like Forgetting (But Much Worse)

**Author's Note:**

> This is not Hiro/Tadashi. You see that 'implied abuse/rape' and you think dirty things, so stop. This is a story about how Tadashi comes to terms with something that he's kept secret since Hiro was born, while he also comes to terms with other things. It's a collection of random bits and pieces that fit together to create an astounding 'what if'.

> **“** One's dignity may be assaulted, vandalized and cruelly mocked, but it can never be taken away unless it is surrendered. **”**

Sometimes it's hard to forget things when they leave scars on who you are; even if you never gave in, never  _broke_ , scars will always remind you that you almost did. You won the war, but like any good soldier you're left with the memories and scars, and sometimes it's hard to come to terms with that. Even the strongest mental barriers break, and not every mirror, both outward and inward, can be avoided -- sooner or later you're reminded, and that's when you realize you never won the war. You never left the battlefield. You were simply in the eye of the hurricane, the calm of the storm, and now it's  _ripping you apart_. Sometimes it's hard to prepare for a storm you never saw coming, never thought would return.

Sometimes it's hard to live knowing that the storm might --  _will_ \-- return. Sometimes it's hard to live knowing that when you're drowning no one sees, no one knows, because you tried so hard to forget that you never told anyone. Or you lied. Sometimes it's hard being alright when you never remember being that way to begin with. People may not be born with scars, but they surely can receive them after birth. Sometimes it's hard to live when you can't forget your scars.

Tadashi has his fair share of scars -- from sparing with Hiro, experiments gone wrong, and that one time he burned himself while baking. Everyone thinks they're normal, noncritical, because Tadashi is such a happy person, how could he possibly be scarred by anything bad? How could he be warring inside when he makes sure others aren't?

If he told the truth, finally, would anyone even believe him?

Who would believe him, anyway? His parents are dead, Hiro doesn't remember. But Cass knows, though she is too often too preoccupied to remember why the SFIT student has scars, and why he refuses to share their stories. In the end only Tadashi carries the weight of what happened, and he carries it so well no one would even notice; his shoulders are straight, his head is held high. He is perfect, unmarred emotionally. But that's the greatest lie he tells. From a young age he was taught that 'no one has to know', and even now he believes it, even after those who told him as much were proven  _wrong_.

No one has to know he has perfected lying, that he's breaking on the inside. No one has to know what happened to him. No one has to know.

Sometimes it's easy to say that no one has to know.


	2. Forgotten Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One night Hiro wakes up, realizes he's alone in the bedroom. He is six years old and Tadashi is twelve. When he goes looking for his brother he finds questions that he'll never get answered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First part was exposition, and this is just a little beforehand memory. Like I said, this is a bunch of short drabbles and such, not really connected but kind of. Enjoy!

Silence, darkness. This is the bitterly chilled world that Hiro Hamada wakes up to one night in November, brown eyes blinking away sleep as he stretches and sits up, eyes meandering through the room until his gaze comes to rest on the bed across from his. It takes a moment for his eyes to adjust, but when they finally do he realizes he's alone in the bedroom. Tadashi is gone. Frowning, the young boy shifts under his sheets, craning forward to peer into the dark, hoping to catch the familiar shadow of his brother. But he sees nothing, and that familiar fear grasps at his heart, spreading through his chest like a poisonous gas; it was a fear of the dark, of being alone.

"Tadashi?" The boy calls meekly, his tone quiet and already loose with the onset of tears. He blinks, lip quivering, arms gripping at his chest as a shiver drives itself down his spine like a nail. Tears streak down his pale face, vague thoughts of monsters and vacant spaces filling his head. Biting his lip, he slips from the bed, wrapping a blanket about himself as he pads quickly across the floor to the other side of the room. Still nothing. Now he is even more desperate, mouth opening in a silent wail. Hiro is about to start crying when he hears voices downstairs, through the partially open door. Taking a deep breath, he pads toward the stairs, opening the door with a dull squeak before quickly taking the steps down to the second floor of the house. This was where the main living space was, and Aunt Cass's bedroom. Below was the cafe.

Trekking down the hallway from the stairs, he peers into the first ajar door, where a slice of light leans into the hall. He peeks through the crack, but not before catching a sound that echoed his mental turmoil: someone was crying. Tadashi? The boy remained silent, leaning in to look into the room, not trying hard to not be detected. What he saw made his heart lurch in a way he did not understand; it was somehow wounding, seeing his strong older brother  _weeping_ in the armchair of Aunt Cass's study. For awhile there is silence, only broken by the ragged in- and exhale from Tadashi. Hiro wants to run to him, curl up in his lap and cry too, because if the older Hamada was sobbing like this then surely something terrible was afoot. Despite his yearning, he stays where he is, frozen in place by a sudden unseen voice -- Aunt Cass.

"It's... it's alright, Tadashi." The woman sounds heartbroken, confused -- she had never imagined taking care of two young boys, her sister's children, and events like this always seemed to catch her off guard. Hiro would realize that she'd gotten better with time, but not easily. "What he did... he should never have done to you. I can't speak for him, but I'm sure he didn't mean it... he loved you both so very much." What was she talking about? Hiro leaned closer, biting his lip as he watched his brother look up at something unseen, eyes puffy from tears.

"No, he didn't. If he did then he never would have hurt us!" The older boy exclaimed, hiccuping in his uncharacteristic weakness. Aunt Cass seemed at a loss for words, because silence reigned again. Then Hiro heard her desk chair creak, and she came into his view, getting down on her knees before the armchair to smile sadly up at her charge. It even seemed like she was crying too, because her eyes shined oddly in the light of the lamp on the mantle. After a moment she sighed and leaned in, pulling Tadashi into a firm hug.

"I'm sorry." And then they were quiet for a long while, arms wrapped around each other. Finally she pulled back, straightening a stray lock of hair on the boy's forehead. "Why don't you go back to bed, try to get some sleep?" Tadashi nodded slowly and smiled his own sad smile, which the baker mirrored. Then she stood, stepping back out of view, and the twelve-year-old stood. Hiro took that as his cue to scamper away, back up the stairs and jump into bed. He had only been laying down a moment when the bedroom door creaked open and a shadow fell across the floor; the door closed again and he heard Tadashi's bed squeal as it was gotten into. After awhile he sat up, long since past his tears and only concerned for his brother's.

"Dashi?" He called softly, and for a moment he thought his brother must have fallen asleep before he responded.

"Hmmm?"

"Why were you crying?" It escapes his lips before he can stop it, his mind riddled with other questions that so easily slipped between his tired walls. For awhile it's quiet, and then the older Hamada finally responds, a hitch in his voice.

"I'll tell you when you're older." Is his quiet response, which the boy accepts as he lays back down. A few minutes later he was fast asleep; they both were.

Hiro would remember, would ask when he was older, but would never be told. No, he'd find out for himself.


End file.
